Rumi Nations

A recent article by the ever-articulate and engaging Tom Friedman got me thinking about this ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/opinion/24friedman.html Friedman says that once America gets cured of its addiction to oil, price of oil will go down forcing the regime in Iran to reform. There's excellent/impeccable economic reasoning behind this — attested to by historical events as mentioned by Friedman. However, I am wondering whether people of Iran will welcome a drop in oil prices leading to a lower national income and lower standards of living for themselves. Would Americans be willing to compromise on their standards of living for a different reason — climate change. Would Americans forego many of the amenities that they have become used to for the sake of aiding the environment. One random example that comes to mind is this: would Americans be willing to go back to an earlier era of hanging their clothes out to dry on a clothes line — something one has seen in old Hollywood m...